The News

08

Feb

Shotgun

Written by Rano Iskandar.

DPMM FC new jerseys

DPMM FC have unveiled their new jerseys home and away recently and now it’s now available at Imperiall Sports, Gills Sports and other major sports outlet in Brunei. I’m not too sure how much they are selling it for. The jerseys are different from last season and the home jersey does have some resemblance of old Blackburn Rovers top. Tomorrow DPMM FC will have a small mini-fair at the Jerudong Mini-Stadium and everyone is welcome. There will be some activities going on and you can get up close and personal with the DPMM FC players too.

The Shell Eco-Marathon Asia, the biggest and most popular fuel efficiency contest in Asia, flags off at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila today with 113 competitors from 15 countries attempting to outdrive one another in squeezing out the most number of kilometers from using just one liter of fuel or one Kilowatt-hour of energy.

The SEM Asia pits students from across the region in developing ultra energy-efficient vehicles that could go the farthest using the least amount of fuel/energy.

The SEM Asia ceremonial flag-off was held today, with President Benigno Aquino III as special guest. Also present at the flag off from Brunei was the Brunei Darussalam Ambassador to the Philippines Her Excellency Datin Paduka Malai Hjh Halimah binti Malai Hj Yussof and the Deputy Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd Hj Salleh Bostaman bin Hj Zainal Abidin.

The first team from Brunei to pass the technical inspection, Alpha 4 from Pusat Latihan Mekanik, was chosen to be among the few teams to be featured at the flag-off. Student competitors from the Asian region, as well as the Middle East, have flown to Manila for the fifth running of the Shell Eco Marathon Asia, and will all try to beat the record set by a college team from Thailand.

Competing in the Philippines are five teams from Brunei. They will be racing alongside students from universities, colleges and technical institutes across 15 countries. The five teams consist of students from Sekolah Vokasional Bolkiah (two teams), Pusat Latihan Mekanik (two teams) and Universiti Brunei Darussalam (one team). Two Bruneian teams, each from Pusat Latihan Mekanik and Universiti Brunei Darussalam will be participating in the Prototype category of the competition while the other three teams, two from Sekolah Vokasional Bolkiah and one from Pusat Latihan Mekanik will be competing in the UrbanConcept vehicle categories of the competition.

In 2012, in Sepang, Malaysia, Thai students from Dhurakij Pubdit University were able to run their Ethanol 100 prototype vehicle for 2,903 kilometers with just a liter of fuel.

Unlike the previous eco-marathons that have been staged inside the Sepang International Circuit, this year the competition will run in a 1.2-kilometer course around the Rizal Park at the center of Manila, giving the students a real-world driving experience, highlighting how their fuel-efficient creations can work in a real urban setting.

Brunei Darussalam Ambassador to the Philippines Her Excellency Datin Paduka Malai Hjh Halimah binti Malai Hj Yussof and the Deputy Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd Hj Salleh Bostaman bin Hj Zainal Abidin with team Alpha 4 from Pusast Latihan Mekanik who became the first team from Brunei to pass the technical inspection

Team Alpha 4

The teams have been designing and building their energy-efficient vehicles for more than a year. Success is not measured by speed – it is measured by who can drive the longest on the least amount of fuel and become the most fuel-efficient team by thinking creatively about energy efficiency and putting new ideas into practice.

Aside from the competition, the SEMA will also convene partners and other stakeholders around the future of energy, technology and mobility. Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2014 has broadened and included two new events – The Shell Energy Lab and the Powering Progress Together Forum also held at the historic Manila Hotel. Both events aim to spark reflection on the world’s food, water and energy resource challenges.

The Shell Eco-Marathon began in 1939 at a Shell research laboratory in the United States as a friendly wager between scientists to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicle. The winner of that contest barely achieved 50 miles per gallon and from these humble origins, a more organized competition evolved. In 1985 in France, Shell Eco-marathon as we know it today was born. In April 2007 the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas event was launched in the United States. In 2010, the inaugural Shell Eco-Marathon Asia was held in Malaysia, where the country hosted the event until 2013.

For more information on all Shell Eco-marathon events across the globe, including official rules, instructions for registration and details on prizes, please visit the Shell Eco-marathon website at www.shell.com/ecomarathon. Press release and images courtesy of Brunei Shell Petroleum.

Team GenNext II of UBD

Can you spot Brunei? Image taken from Shell Facebook page

DST rewards winners

Eighteen lucky winners walked away with exciting prizes as part of the DST Extravaganza rewards program. The prize presentation themed “Back to School” marks the fourth event for DST Extravaganza since July 2013 and will end in May 2014.

DST Extravaganza named 6 thematic prizes every two months throughout the program period and promised to reward 18 winners for each theme. To date, 72 winners have walked away with prizes as part of the DST Extravaganza rewards program for their loyalty in DST products and services such as DST Prima, Postpaid GO!broadband, BlackBerry, Easi and Prepaid GO!broadband customers, who maintain a monthly usage of $75 or above for Postpaid services and $40 or above for Prepaid services monthly.

Grand Prize recipients for both Prima and Easi were presented by Derek Wong Tet Leong, General Manager, DST Group IT and Facilities Services. Dayang Rusnani bte Hj Ibrahim received first prize for the Prima category and walked away with a MacBook Pro with stationery hampers worth $2,600. The second and third Prima recipients were Dayang Mardianah bte Dato Paduka Yaakob and Dayang Mariam bte Hj Gapar who received an ASUS Laptop with stationery hampers worth $1,300 and iPad Air WiFi 16GB with stationery hampers worth $800.00 respectively.

Meanwhile, Awang Muhd Hafizuddin bin Muhd Aizuddin received first prize for the Easi category and brought home a MacBook Pro with stationery hampers, worth $1,900. Second and third recipients were Dayang Noraini binti Mohamad and Awang Kamis Tung who received an ASUS Laptop with stationery hampers worth $1000 and Samsung Tab 7.0 LTE with stationery hampers worth $600 respectively.

Late post: HRH Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, paid a visit to the residence of Chan Key Hong, executive director of Maju Motors Sdn Bhd, who lives in Kg Mata-Mata, on the first day of Chinese New Year.

Earlier that day, HRH Prince ‘Abdul Malik also paid a visit to Chan’s home. He was welcomed by Chan’s family members, including his father Dr Chan Sui Kiat, a leading businessman from the Chinese community in Brunei.

The unique part of the Royalty visit was that they were engaged in celebrating the Chinese customary of the “Yee Sang” with the hosts which brings good luck and prosperity in the Chinese New Year.

This is a customary ceremony where DPMM FC club have a get-together with the management, players and sponsors prior to the S•League 2014 season. The event took place yesterday at the Centrepoint Hotel.

After the signing ceremony, the guest of honour presented a token of appreciation to the sponsors before a group photo shot with the sponsors.

According to Steve Kean, he believes that DPMM FC will have a fruitful season and they have been training intensively in the pre-season. During the last friendly match, he thought the fans have seen how DPMM FC played which was slightly differently from last year. To be solid as a unit is very important and he stresses about the physical aspect of the game. It’s no surprise that Steve have dual training sessions in a day, one at the gym and one on the field.

Steve is still in search of a marquee player. However, he is not in rush for one as long as he finds a striker who is not just talented but with a great attitude. DPMM FC has till end of March to find one before the transfer window closes.

DPMM FC will take on Albirex Niigata FC on their first match which will take place at Jurong East Stadium, Singapore on the 22nd February while their first home game will be on 28th February against Warriors FC. This Sunday, DPMM FC will host a mini fun-fair at the Jerudong Mini-Stadium and the public is more than welcome to join the fun and you will get to mingle with DPMM FC players as well. It will start from 1pm, Sunday 9th February.

The confirmed DPMM FC squad for the upcoming season. DPMM FC still searching for one more player.

Tosi with the club manager and reporter from The Brunei Times

Sairol Hj Sahari looking forward to the new season

Boris Raspudic believes that DPMM FC are capable of winning the title

DPMM FC players heading for training after the event

Win BND 888….

Until 28th February, you can stand a chance to win BND 888. Click image to enlarge.

All you have to do head down to Volkswagen showroom and test drive any Volkswagen car and you can stand a chance to win attractive cash prizes up to BND 888. This promotion is ongoing until 28th February and you can test drive the Volkswagen new Vento, Passat, CC R-Line, Touran as well as the luxury SUV, Touareg.

This is conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration and the idea is to give potential customers and of course, there’s no obligation as well, to win ang bao and you can either win BND 8, BND 88 or BND 888 from the instant draw. So far, there are three winners. The first was Ak Md Aminol Adi Azrie Pg Hj Nikman, a big Volkswagen fan and supporter who test drove a Jetta, got himself BND 888. Efiana Jamil, first-time expectant mother, and Hassanawati Hj Bagol both went home with BND 88 after they test drove Volkswagen’s favourite hatchback, the Polo.

The showroom is also open on Sundays so it will be ideal time to test drive any of the Volkswagen.

Efiana Jamil holding on to the BND 88 voucher after pulling out an "ang bao" from the box while one of Volkswagen Brunei's Sales Executive witnesses the pull

New ISB site

This is interesting. There have been talks about International School Brunei looking for a new location and guess what? they have already started doing ground works on a new location, not far from Sg. Hanching according my source. It’s targeted that it will be done by next year. I’m not sure what will happen to the current building of ISB. So let’s see what new developments that we will know of ISB.

Education is the key

Written by Rano Iskandar.

Icon Design Store

Click to enter website

Shell Eco-Marathon 2014

A sending off ceremony was held today at the Brunei International Airport for the participants of the Shell Eco-Marathon 2014. A total of 35 Bruneians from five teams will be challenging more than 100 teams from 16 different countries to break the national record of driving 142km on a single liter of fuel.

Present at the send-off ceremony was the, Deputy Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd, Haji Salleh Bostaman bin Haji Zainal Abidin as well as other officials from the Ministry of Education and Brunei Shell Petroleum.

Prior to leaving for The Philippines, the five teams from University Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Sekolah Vokasional Seria Bolkiah (SVSB), and Pusat Latihan Mekanik (PLM) had the chance to do a preliminary technical inspection before the vehicles were shipped to Manila.

Among some of the aspects of the technical inspection involved a visibility test, brake test, safety belt check, and escape test, according to the stringent health, safety and environment standards set by Shell.

This is the third year that Bruneian teams will be participating in SEM Asia, as Brunei first participated in the Shell Eco Marathon in 2011, by pitting eco-cars built by students from PLM and SVSB against 103 teams representing 12 countries from Japan, India, China, and the ASEAN countries on the Sepang International Circuit.

Brunei’s participation in the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2014 competition is the result of a successful collaboration between BSP and the Ministry of Education through UBD and Department of Technical Education (DTE).

Deputy Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd, Haji Salleh Bostaman bin Haji Zainal Abidin with other officials from Ministry of Education and Brunei Shell Petroleum and 35 participants representing Brunei in the Shell Eco-Marathon 2014 at the Brunei International Airport before taking off to Manila

Some of the participants for Shell Eco-Marathon 2014

Some of the participants for Shell Eco-Marathon 2014

Some of the participants for Shell Eco-Marathon 2014

In this year’s edition, the five teams from Brunei will be competing against more than 100 other teams from 16 different countries, exposing them to the technologies and expertise used by students from other participating countries, as well as a chance to network.

The SEM competition is part of Shell’s Mobility Campaign, and challenges students in finding innovative ways to develop more energy-efficient fuels and lubricants to help reduce Co2 emissions. SEM provides a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of design and build the cars of tomorrow.

To power their vehicles, teams can choose from a selection of conventional and alternative fuels. They can enter the ‘Prototype’ category, where cars are designed for pure fuel efficiency, or the ‘UrbanConcept’ category, where vehicles also have to meet certain road-worthy criteria.

There are rules regarding the specification of the engines and the chassis in both categories but, outside of those and as long as teams adhere to the safety regulations, the design of their cars is limited only by their imagination.

This year’s event will be held from 6 – 9 February 2014 at Luneta Park in Manila, Philippines and will include teams from all over the Asian region. Press release from Brunei Shell.

The only all-ladies team for Shell Eco-Marathon 2014

The awareness billboard at Manila, The Philippines

Do check them out on instagram with this hashtag

Win a Powerbank

Follow them and also like them on their instagram @sinhuphuat and don’t forget to tag them too and include the #michelinpowerbank hashtag. There will be 5 winners chosen randomly and the draw date will be on the 15th February 2014. So far it has 186 entries on its post since yesterday. That’s pretty cool. So guys, do follow them on instagram and be one of that 5 lucky winners :D

Restocking in Temburong

“Temporary issues with delivery” was attributed to the unavailability of diesel and petrol in the Temburong District two days ago, causing difficulties for many motorists especially those utilising the route to cross the border to Malaysia and vice-versa.

According to Temburong resident Hj Apong Momin, many motorists in the district were left fuming when they were met with signs indicating the unavailability of diesel and petrol for the past two days. He said it started at one of the only two petrol stations in the district, but supplies also ran out at the other petrol station when people started buying in panic.

The long queue last Tuesday at Temburong

Brunei Shell Marketing (BSM)’s Head of Retail, Md Adini Hj M Daini, however, reassured residents of Temburong that there is no need for panic buying as fuel supplies are adequate and there is no shortage of fuel in the country.

“At 6.30pm last evening (Tuesday), we have made delivery to the petrol stations and they are willing to open until late last night to cater for the demand,” he said in a telephone call to the Bulletin.

The temporary disruption to supplies, he said, was due to issues with delivery but he assured that petrol supplies for today have been secured and will have additional delivery of fuel today.

“We regret the inconvenience caused, especially to motorists in Temburong and have taken action to address the situation accordingly and are working closely with the petrol stations to monitor their stocks to ensure continuous delivery of fuel,” he added. Text courtesy of Daniel Norjidi of Borneo Bulletin.

Too warm...

Written by Rano Iskandar.

Sub Sandwiches

"Take a Dive with Our Sub Sandwiches" is the latest promo at Fish & Co, introducing a delectable addition to their already distinctly delicious menu.

The submarine sandwiches, come in five different varieties, one to suit all kinds of discerning tastebuds, from the spicy "Peri-peri Chicken sub with Tangy Peri-Peri sauce" to the more universally recognised, "Roasted Beef with Pepper sauce." In true Fish & Co tradition, it would be amiss without adding some seafood flavours in the mix, with their delightful "Marinated Salmon flake sub with Lemon butter and cream sauce" and the "Fish fillet sub topped with Lemon Butter and cream sauce."

There's also a limited edition variety, "Turkey sub with Cranberry sauce", All subs are built in a homemade Baked Country Grain Bun and filled with Mesclun lettuce, Gherkins for a tangy crunch, shaved tomatoes, caramelized onions and Mustard dressing, and served with a side order of delicious savory fries.

The promotion starts on 1st Feb until the end of the month. The Peri-peri, Salmon and Fish fillet subs are priced at $9.95, while the beef and turkey subs are priced at $11.95 respectively.

For further inquiries, you can call 2392555 or 2392666.

Laksamana College of Business

Click image to enter Laksamana College of Business website

Laksamana College of Business live by their motto - “Your Education is Our Priority”. Currently, they are having a roadshow at the Mall Gadong every weekend for the February 2014 Intake. The college also accepts students from 4 “O” Level passes. LCB offers full time and part-time courses in Business (Accounting/Marketing), Computing & Systems Development and Hospitality Management. You can also check out their website for more details at laksamanacollege.edu.bn and it’s a pretty comprehensive website too.

LCB’s mission aims to give students of all backgrounds and diverse cultures the best possible Educational opportunities and learning support in the firm that Education improves our knowledge, nurtures personal development, fosters interpersonal and international relations and increases productivity.

As of last year, LCB has been expanding their premises to cater to the high demand of student intakes and LCB also aims at providing better quality facilities and environment for the students. Last year, LCB added Hospitality course as part of their program and the college will be looking forward to create more opportunities for the students.

You can also reach them at 223 8816 or email them at enquiries(a)laksamanacollege.edu.bn

The students at Laksamana College of Business

Check out their Hospitality Education Fair at Laksamana College of Business this Friday, 7th February

For those interested to know more about hospitality program, you can drop by LCB this Friday, 7th February 2014. There are two sessions available - 9:30am to 11:30am and 2:30pm to 5:30pm and all of you are more than welcome to find out more.

If you are interested doing any course in hotel operations, food and beverages, travel and tourism, customer service, employability skills, human resource management for service industries and many more regarding hospitality program, please come to Laksamana College of Business, Hospitality Education Fair in Laksamana College of Business.

Just imagine

Written by Rano Iskandar.

More treats from HSBC

• Starbucks will be open on 16Feb2014 at Mabohai Shopping Complex. • The monthly treat's prize will be delivered to customers through an appointed courier service within 5 working days after end of every month, for the respective monthly treat.

CNY recap

I’m still recovering from the CNY festive celebration or more like taking time off. Yea true, celebrations are kinda muted and plus it’s a long weekend and many were traveling abroad for holidays. I have been returning home late (sorry Mom) and sleeping late as well and now my body clock has slightly been affected and also a bit of my work.

I shall be traveling again soon to Singapore to accompany my mom and also juggling with my workload. One thing though that I have yet to commit is my yoga exercise and also two of my objectives which I have set earlier in the year but yet to even kick it off. That’s the thing, the hardest is always the beginning, right? But once you get the ball rolling, it will roll.

For now, I’m gonna flood with this post with pictures taken from my CNY visit. Enjoy and be right back!!

CNY at Concepts Computer

Mr. Vincent Pao and Mrs. Pao of Concepts Computer with their business partners and staff of Concepts Computer during their open house yesterday at their HQ. Click image to enlarge.

Members of the media and customers feted at Concepts Computer’s CNY Open House

Mr. and Mrs. Pao of Concepts Computer with members of the media

Mr. Vincent Pao and I have great business relationships over the years. I have always admire his business ethics, passion and vision.

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Established in 2003, RA started off from a blogspot in 2002 before owning the domaining. What started off as a hobby, turned into one of the most viewed blog in Brunei Darussalam. Hence, it is branded as a social news blog. More details on this soon.